


Friend For Life

by hetawholockvengerstuck



Series: One-Shot Wonderfest [6]
Category: Monsters Inc (2001), Monsters University (2013)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Monsters Inc.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-03
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-16 20:56:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/866523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hetawholockvengerstuck/pseuds/hetawholockvengerstuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His roommate. His "friend for life". Ever since college, Mike hasn't known how to act around Randall. Is it worth salvaging their friendship? Can he?</p><p>Set after Monsters Inc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friend For Life

_"Hey, did you hear? Randall Boggs is back! They finally found him!"_

_"Seriously? Where was he? Didn't they declare him dead?"_

_"He came stumbling through a closet door about four hours ago, beaten and starving. Apparently he's been traveling the human world, looking for a closet door he could use to return."_

_"Is he okay?"_

_"I heard that he's in critical condition. Some say he's missing body parts, but you know how the rumor mill works around here."_

_"You can say that again. I hope he's okay, though. That had to be harsh."_

_"You're telling me. A year and a half in the human world? It's amazing that he survived at all!"_

/////

Mike Wazowski's lunch break had ended an hour ago. He was still picking at his food, pushing it around absent-mindedly, when Terry and Terri came along.

"Mike!" Terri said. "What are you doing?"

"If you're late again, Sully will have no choice but to fire you. He can't allow slackers to work here, regardless of friend status."  Terry attempted to fold his arms, but his brother wasn't cooperating.

"I don't really feel too good. I don't think I could make a kid laugh if I tried." Mike kept his eye on his plate.

Terri's face, unlike Terry's, was twisted in a sympathetic expression. "It's Randall, isn't it?"

Mike finally looked up. 

Terry and Terri leaned forward and each rested a hand on Mike's back, in lieu of any shoulders. "Look, we don't really understand why you care so much about that guy..." Terry began.

"...but we heard someone saying that the doctors are allowing visitors now," Terri finished. "Maybe you should go see him."

"You're kidding, right? He'd kick me out the door!"

"Not if he's bedridden!" Terry said, laughing. Terri pushed his brother's head to shut him up.

"It was just an idea, Mike." Terry and Terri turned to go. Before they exited the cafeteria, Terri turned his head around and said, "We'll tell Sully that you're on sick leave, okay? Do what you want with the rest of the day."

/////

"This is the worst idea I have ever had," Mike muttered to himself as he waited in the elevator. When it stopped at Floor 4, he squeezed past a large yellow monster and, balancing a tray of cupcakes, meandered down the hall to Room 42, where he knocked and entered.

As soon as Mike uttered a greeting, Randall's head swung around, and he growled. Mike almost dropped the cupcakes in shock; Randall really was in bad condition. One eye was bandaged over; his head was swathed in white, with only a few sections of his crest sticking out, drooping. A couple of his arms and legs were in casts. Despite four months of hospital care, he was still thin from lack of food and the stress of surviving in the human world. He was a sickly shade of yellow, but when Mike entered, Randall's color began to flicker in agitation and, Mike suspected, rage. 

"Heh..." Mike held out the tray. "Cupcake?"

"WHAT are you doing, Wazowski?" Randall hissed. "Come to gloat in your victory? I'll bet you and Sullivan are on top of the world. Or were the two of you fired? I haven't had the oppourtunity to catch up."

Mike sighed and set the cupcakes on the table beside Randall's bed. There was a stool nearby, for visitors; Mike pulled this up and put his hands on his knees. "I, um, actually came to apologize. I mean, you were sort of a jerk. But, you know, you're not a bad guy! At least, you weren't. When we were roommates."

Randall's eyes narrowed further. "I try my best to forget that."

"Yeah..." Mike scratched the back of his head. "Me too. But no hard feelings, right?"

"Wrong!" Randall flashed bright red before lapsing into dull blue. "Because of you and Sullivan, I spent a year and a half wandering in a strange world, swimming, running, hiding, stealing food when I couldn't bring myself to keep going, even though I knew I'd have to spend years in detox. Then, I finally find a closet that's connected to a scare company, and I'm rushed to a hospital and told nothing about what's transpired. The two of you have always gone out of your way to keep me in the dust, and I'm sick of it!"

Mike hopped up. "You're blaming us? You're the one who's always held a grudge. Sully and I were just doing our job!"

"Well, why don't you go back to your job and leave me alone?" Randall turned his head away.

Mike hesitated before speaking up. "I'm sorry, Randall."

Pause. "What did you say?"

"I said I'm sorry. I guess...I knew you were upset about being rejected from Roar Omega Roar. I was just so caught up in my own success to do anything about it. Then, when Sully and I started working at the scare company...I wasn't sure how I stood with you. I didn't know if we were friends, or enemies, or just classmates. It wasn't easy to talk to you. I guess..." Mike rubbed his the back of his hand. "I was never the best friend to you."

Throughout Mike's confession, Randall kept absolutely silent. Mike waited for what felt like an awkward eternity for Randall to say something, or nod, or anything to show that he'd heard and understood. Finally, Randall said, "I'd finally gotten in with the popular kids. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged. And then...everything just fell apart. I'm sick of losing to Sullivan...and you."

"Look, I'm sor--"

"Will you quit apologizing?" Randall turned his head. "I know it's not your fault. You had more at stake than I did. I just...I wanted to have friends. I wanted to show everyone that Randall Boggs could be somebody."

Mike sat down again. "We're not that different, then."

"We're entirely different."

Mike laughed, and, slowly, Randall joined in. His color settled closer to the normal shade of purple. 

"Seriously, though, cupcake?" Mike motioned to the tray. Randall looked at the food for the first time and started; the cupcakes each bore a letter, spelling out "Be My Pal".

"This is pathetic," Randall said, chuckling and holding up a cupcake. "What sort of loser writes 'be my pal' on a cupcake?"

Mike laughed too. "Can't think of anyone desperate enough to do that."

As Randall peeled back the wrapper on the chocolate cupcake bearing the letter  _B,_ he asked, "Anything drastic happen while I was gone?"

"Well, for one, we don't scare kids anymore. We make them laugh."

"We WHAT?!"


End file.
